[Haruhi] Koizumi analysis

[Halbarad]

It's a topic we seem to keep returning to in IRC, and during my recent trip out to meet Brian and Drac, our discussion of the subject around Drac led him to prompt us towards formalizing how the two of us have come to our conclusions about Koizumi as a negative or unlikeable character. The original idea was for an IRC log of the two of us discussing him, but we'd been over the same points enough times that I wasn't sure I could go through them again without skipping over points.

Instead, I started a writeup -- based in events observed in canon -- that Brian's reviewed and revised, that outlines exactly how we come to the conclusion that Koizumi really is something of a massive jerk. I'll definitely be interested in seeing if folks can come up with alternate interpretations that fit the same events we've drawn our conclusions from; at this point -- especially after having gone through this writeup -- I can't really see him any other way.

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Canon factsheet:

1. Kyon doesn't like Koizumi, and generally finds him smug and somewhat condescending. (throughout most of the novels)
2. He discovered his powers three years ago and thought he was going crazy. (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)
3. He was trained up to assume his position in the Brigade over the last three years. (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)
4. His alternate self admits to being jealous of the impact that Kyon was able to make on Haruhi within a day of meeting her. (The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi)
5. He has directly stated that his current presentation is a mask that he wears, and has implied that Kyon might not like the 'real' him. (Charmed at First Sight LOVER)
6. He has directly cast aspersions on Mikuru and her motives. (The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi)
7. He has directly interfered between Kyon and Haruhi. (The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi)
8. He has made a promise to stand by Kyon and the Brigade should it be required. (Snow Mountain Syndrome)


Starting from the top:

The place to start seems to be with the first point: the fact that Kyon finds Koizumi to be smug and condescending. Kyon is definitely an unreliable narrator, so our perceptions are going to be somewhat colored by his own opinions and prejudices, but with this there are two extreme views to take: Either Kyon is being perfectly factual and Koizumi really -is- that condescending, or Kyon is jealous of Koizumi - who's seen as better than him in basically every way - and casts this attitude on the genuinely likeable Koizumi to justify his own feelings of inferiority.

Neither extreme is likely to be perfectly accurate. It seems fairly clear that to some extent, Kyon -is- jealous of Koizumi; however, in his interactions with other people, this doesn't seem like a defining character trait for him, so it doesn't seem like it should be coloring his perceptions of Koizumi that strongly, either. It therefore seems fairly reasonable to assume that Koizumi is at least somewhat smug and condescending around Kyon, although perhaps less so than Kyon's narration paints it.

If we assume that this is at least partially true, it begs the question of why Koizumi would show such an attitude towards Kyon - who is by his own admission basically worse than Koizumi at everything. The only real thing that Kyon has going for him is the position he holds in Haruhi's esteem; this would imply that Koizumi is resentful or jealous of that position - something that's reinforced by fact #4 (Koizumi's alternate self admits to being jealous of Kyon's influence with Haruhi.) It also indicates that Kyon's position with Haruhi is enough to outweigh everything else that Koizumi has going for him, or at the very least that he's petty enough to be unwilling to let go of it.

Taking the first of these two suppositions, we can combine this with one of our facts (#3, the fact that he was trained for his position in the Brigade for three years) to infer that he was likely trained and set up to take the position of a romantic interest for Haruhi. It would definitely explain why he's somewhat resentful of Kyon, who basically stepped into the role by purest accident or good fortune - and in the process, turned the last three years of Koizumi's life into a nearly complete waste of time and effort. (reference facts #2 and #3).

All other inferences aside, however, this does seem like the most reasonable one: that Koizumi was prepped to become Haruhi's romantic interest, and was preempted by Kyon before he ever arrived at Kitago. If he was merely sent to be an observer, the extensive training would appear to be unnecessary, as it doesn't take much training to sit back and remain unobtrusive - or to simply be a yes-man, as Koizumi turns out to be. There's also no particular reason to send a pretty-boy; it's significant enough a factor about him that even Kyon comments on Koizumi's looks. An ideal observer would be someone that wouldn't necessarily stand out to any extreme, and someone that's exceedingly good-looking does that simply by the nature of their appearance.

This definitely gives Koizumi some motive to dislike or resent Kyon, but doesn't establish much about him in relation to the rest of the Brigade. How, then, does he react to the others?

Haruhi he quite clearly gives way to and protects, even when doing so is not in her best interests (just in her desires). Preventing Kyon from hitting her in Sigh (#7) definitely acted to protect Haruhi, and may even have protected Kyon, but Haruhi did need to see at that point just how angry Kyon really was, and perhaps having received the strike he'd intended to give her would have hammered the point in that much further. Possibly not, though; with Koizumi having intercepted it, she definitely got the message that Kyon was angry enough to carry through on what he was threatening, and the main effect is that we get an impression that Koizumi is quite willing to interfere between the two of them if he deems it necessary.

In Mikuru's case, he's openly distrustful of her (point #6), and in fact is the only member of the Brigade to show such overt suspicion of any other. The only thing even approaching this is Yuki's follow-up to the same series of conversations, in which she tells Kyon that he shouldn't take any of the other Brigade members' motives at face value - and that comment seems to read less as "we're all untrustworthy" and more as "make your own judgements about us, don't just believe us blindly".

The one point in Koizumi's favor is the promise he makes to Kyon, to stand by the Brigade should it become necessary (point #8). As always, there's a range of interpretations that can be given here; the most positive being that he's accepted Kyon's role in Haruhi's life, and is willing to set aside his grievances to stand with them should the situation require, while the most negative leans towards Kyon (likely inadvertently) forcing him into a corner in order to require that promise, and he can't get out of doing so without sacrificing any trust that Kyon has in him at this point - and having Kyon as an enemy openly would likely not bode well for his continued presence in the Brigade.

As a possibly even grimmer counterpoint to the above, if what Tachibana Kyouko mentions about Koizumi being the head of the espers' Organization is true (in novel 10), then the value of Koizumi's promise is almost nothing. It also increases the level of dishonesty that's been openly shown by Koizumi, as he has claimed to have been required to write a letter of apology to his 'superiors' after Kyon 'falls down the stairs' in Disappearance. If he is in fact the leader of his organization, there would be absolutely no need to write such a letter - who would he actually give it to?

The final picture that's presented is of a young man that was hand-picked and groomed to take a position as Haruhi's boyfriend or love interest, likely to exert a positive or stabilizing influence on her, all of which was dashed when a completely average nobody stepped in and took the role before he could arrive. For a considerable span of time he doesn't handle this particularly well (at least up until Sigh), but how he's adjusting to his situation past that point is up to some interpretation. It's fairly clear that he at least starts out as the least altruistic of all the Brigade members, and it's debatable how much that outlook changes over the course of the novels.

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If anyone can cast a different light, or bring additional points in from the canon that changes the way these points can be interpreted, I'm definitely eager to see it. I'm not so convinced of the absolute 'rightness' of this that I'm not willing to look at alternate views, but at this point I can't really reconcile what's seen here with any other interpretation of the character.

[Grahf]

I can't say that I disagree with this interpretation, but there are some points that you might want to look at:

Both of the ones I'm thinking of happen in Volume 5; there's the one during The Day of Sagittarius where when walking home Koizumi talks with extremely thinly veiled envy about the "bond of trust" that Kyon and Haruhi share. He actually even admits that he's envious during the conversation, which when viewed from one way might be a sign of his growing acceptance of the situation that has developed.

The other situation is where Koizumi seemingly admits his "worthlessness" regarding the situation in Snow Mountain Syndrome. Kyon doesn't seem to want to take Koizumi's admission at face value, he believes that Koizumi can do something about the situation, but for whatever reason doesn't really want to (that's the interpretation that I got out of it at least). Granted Kyon feels equally powerless in this situation as well, and admits that he might just be venting.

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Overall, to me Koizumi seems to come off as the most self-interested of group, or at least the most obviously so. As you said it's clear that he holds Haruhi's well-being above that of pretty much anyone else. I think that if it came down to a choice between her and nearly anything else up to and including the Organization that he might honestly choose her, especially if he thought it might mean becoming something more in her eyes.

I'm not entirely sure I believe Tachibana about Koizumi being the leader of the Organization. It seemingly pits liar against liar, but I think that Tachibana might have either been intentionally lying to try and cause a rift between the SOS Brigade members, or that she might have in fact been lied to by her own superiors. I don't really buy the idea that there's "no ranks" in the Organization either and that everyone is equal, but to me it's more convincing than Itsuki being the one in charge of the entire thing.

[Arakawa]

tl:dr version: Whenever Koizumi gives a complicated explanation of something, it's an unconscious defensive mechanism whose primary purpose isn't to explain anything, but to ensure that people are sufficiently impressed by his intelligence.

Okay, this is a bit fanciful, and founded on the fact that (unpleasantly enough) I have an easier time projecting myself onto Koizumi than onto Kyon or Haruhi or anyone else.

First of all, as an esper, Koizumi became able to sense Haruhi's emotional state. It seems plausible that this ability is neither pleasant nor user friendly. (Brian suggested in K:BDH that he might even have difficulty distinguishing between his own emotions and those belonging to Haruhi.) As a coping mechanism, he would have probably learned to exist in a continual state of emotional detachment, which he papers over with a facade designed to seem warm and impressive. So Koizumi would have two modes -- one fairly detached and emotionless -- and the other with its development halted at the point where he had to shut his emotions down to cope with input from Haruhi. The detached mode is indifferent and inconsiderate to other human beings outside of a purely mechanical sense that he ought to act considerate, and the other is probably overwhelmed and thus petty and volatile in its own way.

Now, to address the apparent disparity between Koizumi being claimed to represent a model mysterious transfer student (mysterious, intelligent, attractive) and Kyon's evident perception of him as a prick.

It's not particularly difficult (I've found) to alter one's demeanour to seem ludicrously more or less impressive. It's difficult to explain but it boils down to continuously introducing one's own positive traits into the conversation, in such a way as to make it seem utterly implausible if it is done intentionally, and applying self-deprecation the moment anyone else points the traits out.

For example, consider the issue of understanding the frequently mind-bending issues the Brigade winds up facing. When it comes to taking practical action, Kyon's understanding of a situation turns out to be as good as, or better than, Koizumi's. (It's at least always good enough to resolve whatever the actual problem happens to be.) But Koizumi (serving as exposition), has the habit of couching his understanding in the form of complicated words and diagrams which serve to impress on the listener how intellectual Koizumi is. The reason this even works is that the primary subtext -- "I am intelligent, as evidenced by the fact that my first impulse on being presented with the conundrum of the a/b timelines is to work through it with a complicated diagram" -- is so deeply buried that no one could ever accuse him of trying to insinuate it. (Well, except I'm accusing him now.) Probably Koizumi isn't even aware he's doing it himself!

So hence the disparity: everyone sees Koizumi's facade. Even Haruhi is at least partly taken in. Kyon is the one who turns out to be perceptive enough to realize that there's an element of fakery to it, and that observation can't help but be reflected in the narration.

So, by projecting that on the character, I have a fairly good starting point as to deciding what the situation looks like from inside Koizumi's shoes. Beyond that, everything is a bunch of variables because ultimately we don't know that much about who Koizumi originally was / remains behind the facade. I can just offer commentary on what the nature of that facade might be. But it's possible to go from there and craft a sympathetic (if emotionally screwed up) Koizumi, or a complete sociopath, as needed by the fic.

Of course, one thing I'll point out is that neither the canon nor most fanfics generally have a use for Koizumi, beyond 'exposition machine who uses the big words neither Kyon nor Nagato can be bothered to use'. This is frequently compounded by the fact that beginning fic writers tend to fail at imitating Koizumi's style of technobabble/psychobabble, making it much more grating and obnoxious than it needs to be. And creating yet another reason to automatically dislike the character.

The thing I'm personally unsure of is the question of why Haruhi chose Koizumi the person to be in the Brigade, specifically, out of all the people she might have turned into espers. In Disappearance it's made painfully clear they have no chemistry as a couple, so I'd guess somehow that Haruhi was far more interested in the idea of Koizumi than in dealing with any such real person, whether in the capacity of a boyfriend or a simple Brigade member.

[Arakawa]

Note: edited the above with a few clarifying comments. These are very rough thoughts, and I'd appreciate hearing how close / far off they are from other people's perceptions.

[Oroboro]

Hmm. I guess I'll step up to the plate to try and defend poor Koizumi. Of course, I'm too lazy, and not eloquent enough to make a full blow analysis like yours, so these objections will likely fall by the wayside. Still, I think there are a few points of alternate interpretation I can add.


First off:

1. Kyon doesn't like Koizumi, and generally finds him smug and somewhat condescending. (throughout most of the novels)

You mentioned the unreliable narrator thing, but there's an aspect of it you left out. Namely, that it could be Kyon's reactions to Koizumi that are exaggerated. Kyon acts pretty grumpy towards him, and I'd say more out of a sense of general annoyance and irritation than a belief of Koizumi's smugness/arrogance.

But, Kyon is kind of a grumpy person, and he lets that color his narrative. The way he grouses about Koizumi in general is exactly the same as he used to grouse about the brigade as a whole. (Until he had his super-inner-monologue in disappearance.

Not to mention, actions speak louder than words. Kyon may say he dislikes Koizumi, but:

Kyon spends more time hanging out with Koizumi than any other member of the brigade.

There's a sort of friendship there that's lacking between Kyon and the others. Kyon may go on and on about how perfectly lovely Asahina-san is, but he never really sits down and has any meaningful interaction with her, preferring just to sit back, drink some heavenly tea, and admire the view.

Yuki is Yuki, and most interactions with her are limited for obvious reasons, even if Kyon does try.

But with Koizumi, Kyon spends a ton of time playing board games, constantly challenging each other in battles of wit and strategy. (Which Koizumi apparently sucks ass at). They spend pages together in long winded philosophical discussions. Some of which Kyon is even an active participant in, rather than silently snaking. They play a game of catch in novel 10/11!

Building on those points, let's turn the chessboard around and look at these from Koizumi's point of view. Forgetting any motivations for getting close to Haruhi at the moment, what does Koizumi have to gain from the constant board-gaming, philosophy, and and any of the other interactions he has with Kyon?

You could say it's all part of some sinister plan to manipulate Kyon and gain his trust or something, but it's really kind of a stretch. Koizumi doesn't do much to engender trust from Kyon, but Kyon ends up trusting him most of the time anyway. (Kyon often says/thinks otherwise, but actions still speak louder than words). So, board-gaming as a sinister plan is more than a little circuitous and obtuse.

So, why bother with the boardgames in the first place? Well, the simplest explanation would just be that: It's something Koizumi enjoys doing. They manage to get an entire shelf full of different games by the end of the novels. Even though he keeps losing, Koizumi keeps bringing more games and playing Kyon time and time again. Esper or not, he's still a human being, with his own likes and dislikes.

So, looking from Koizumi's perspective again, what would the purpose of his penchant for long winded philosophical ramblings be for? Is he deliberately trying to confuse or mislead Kyon? Is he being arrogant, and trying to flaunt his intellectual superiority over Kyon's inability to understand it. Kyon often claims to be totally lost, but he's notoriously unreliable in regards to his own intelligence, and even then Kyon manages to find out the answer by the end.

So, my thought than, and it sort of comes through in the canon: The purpose of these discussion's isn't to tell Kyon about whatever X problem is. Almost every exposition dump from Koizumi reads as if he's trying to teach Kyon, by leading him to solve the problem himself. Give a man a fish, teach a man to fish, etc. He wants Kyon to be able to figure out all these things on his own, and guides him through the process, rather than just telling him outright. Kyon is obviously annoyed, but usually pulls through anyway.


Those were all the points I can make about Koizumi being a friend, in any case. I can't quite offer much to disprove your theory, just offer another way. A few points to make on other things:

His alternate self admits to being jealous of the impact that Kyon was able to make on Haruhi within a day of meeting her. (The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi)

Consider, that if you use this as evidence for your theory about him being trained to be Haruhi's girlfriend, that Alt!Koizumi has a totally different background going into this. He transfers to a school for completely mundane reasons, and is probably approached by a stunningly beautiful girl with a slight spark in her eye because he's a mysterious transfer student. He's captivated by her, but that spark quickly fades as mediocrity asserts itself, and he keeps going on, knowing that his luck will soon run out.

Until the fantastically awesome John Smith shows up and brings a life into her he couldn't even begin to dream of doing himself. Who wouldn't be jealous?

Normal Koizumi lacks that perspective, however.

He has directly cast aspersions on Mikuru and her motives. (The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi)

This is an undeniable black spot on the record of Itsuki Koizumi, but it still deserves some thought. Let's turn the chessboard around again, and ask: What does he have to gain from doing this? Does he hope to make Kyon suspicious of Mikuru?

That's kind of stupid, isn't it? Koizumi's a smart person, and he already knows Kyon pretty well. Telling him not to trust Mikuru doesn't make Kyon doubt Mikuru, it makes him doubt Koizumi. It's a pretty easily foreseeable outcome, especially with the overly sinister way he went about doing it. (Might be only the anime in which it came across that way, but...) So why would Koizumi bother with an action that mostly turns the suspicion back on himself?

Going back to the idea of Koizumi teaching Kyon and trying to get him find out the answer on his own, it mirrors exactly what Yuki said. You shouldn't take anything we say at face value, use your own judgement's carefully.

7. He has directly interfered between Kyon and Haruhi. (The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi)

One last point to make here, but if you disregard any of Koizumi's ulterior motives, it's still a totally normal action for him to take in that situation. If my friend was in a huge fight with his girlfriend and moved to hit her, I'd stop him, simple as that. Koizumi simply stopped Kyon from doing something he would really, really regret later.

Mikuru even does the same thing right after, although in a much more useless, pathetic, drunken way.



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Anyway, that's my take on a few things. (Or you know, devils advocate). This probably came off as more of a bunch of nonsensical ramblings (And was longer than I thought.) and for that I apologize. I also probably need to reread the novels or something, as my facts might be a bit messed up off the top of my head.

Brozumi 4 life.

[Halbarad]

tl:dr version: Whenever Koizumi gives a complicated explanation of something, it's an unconscious defensive mechanism whose primary purpose isn't to explain anything, but to ensure that people are sufficiently impressed by his intelligence.

Taking this by itself? It still makes him an insufferable jerk. Simply spouting off pseudo-intellectual nonsense to try to impress other people would indicate some serious insecurity issues on his part, and I don't really see that coming across for Koizumi in any other way in the novels - or if it does, the flashes of it are so brief as to leave no real impression on me at all.

Okay, this is a bit fanciful, and founded on the fact that (unpleasantly enough) I have an easier time projecting myself onto Koizumi than onto Kyon or Haruhi or anyone else.

First of all, as an esper, Koizumi became able to sense Haruhi's emotional state. It seems plausible that this ability is neither pleasant nor user friendly. (Brian suggested in K:BDH that he might even have difficulty distinguishing between his own emotions and those belonging to Haruhi.) As a coping mechanism, he would have probably learned to exist in a continual state of emotional detachment, which he papers over with a facade designed to seem warm and impressive. So Koizumi would have two modes -- one fairly detached and emotionless -- and the other with its development halted at the point where he had to shut his emotions down to cope with input from Haruhi. The detached mode is indifferent and inconsiderate to other human beings outside of a purely mechanical sense that he ought to act considerate, and the other is probably overwhelmed and thus petty and volatile in its own way.

This is somewhat countered by the fact that on multiple occasions, he overtly displays emotions that don't jive with his pleasant facade. If he was that completely detached emotionally, and relied entirely on his facade, we wouldn't see these flashes of real emotion from him at all (jealousy in Day of Sagittarius or irritation in Charmed at First Sight LOVER); his facade would take over and he'd have no real reason to break it in either of these circumstances. The Day of Sagittarius incident could easily be explained away simply as a choice of words, but he actually seems to show some real emotion in CaFSL, and he seems genuinely frustrated in Snow Mountain Syndrome.

Now, to address the apparent disparity between Koizumi being claimed to represent a model mysterious transfer student (mysterious, intelligent, attractive) and Kyon's evident perception of him as a prick.

It's not particularly difficult (I've found) to alter one's demeanour to seem ludicrously more or less impressive. It's difficult to explain but it boils down to continuously introducing one's own positive traits into the conversation, in such a way as to make it seem utterly implausible if it is done intentionally, and applying self-deprecation the moment anyone else points the traits out.

For example, consider the issue of understanding the frequently mind-bending issues the Brigade winds up facing. When it comes to taking practical action, Kyon's understanding of a situation turns out to be as good as, or better than, Koizumi's. (It's at least always good enough to resolve whatever the actual problem happens to be.) But Koizumi (serving as exposition), has the habit of couching his understanding in the form of complicated words and diagrams which serve to impress on the listener how intellectual Koizumi is. The reason this even works is that the primary subtext -- "I am intelligent, as evidenced by the fact that my first impulse on being presented with the conundrum of the a/b timelines is to work through it with a complicated diagram" -- is so deeply buried that no one could ever accuse him of trying to insinuate it. (Well, except I'm accusing him now.) Probably Koizumi isn't even aware he's doing it himself!

So hence the disparity: everyone sees Koizumi's facade. Even Haruhi is at least partly taken in. Kyon is the one who turns out to be perceptive enough to realize that there's an element of fakery to it, and that observation can't help but be reflected in the narration.

So, by projecting that on the character, I have a fairly good starting point as to deciding what the situation looks like from inside Koizumi's shoes. Beyond that, everything is a bunch of variables because ultimately we don't know that much about who Koizumi originally was / remains behind the facade. I can just offer commentary on what the nature of that facade might be. But it's possible to go from there and craft a sympathetic (if emotionally screwed up) Koizumi, or a complete sociopath, as needed by the fic.

Except that, as I mentioned above, this kind of attempt to impress implies that there are some underlying self-confidence issues that prompt him to even try this in the first place. This isn't exactly compatible with the emotionally-detached Koizumi maintaining a pleasant facade that you've painted for us above; you might be able to run with one or the other, but certainly not both.

And, as mentioned above, he doesn't really seem to show this in any other ways that we can see; in fact, he has every reason to be -more- confident than Kyon does most of the time. He's more intelligent, by Kyon's own admission; even if Kyon can grasp the practical aspects of things, Koizumi can always elaborate on them, and at great length. He's been trained for years to deal with Haruhi, and he has a read on Haruhi's emotional state - which gives him an unfair advantage of sorts when it comes to trying to deal with her. He's also more capable of intervening directly when things go nuts on the paranormal front, as well - so where would that lack of confidence actually -come- from? To top that off, why would his organization send someone with those kinds of issues to deal with the most important person on the face of the planet (in their view)?

Of course, one thing I'll point out is that neither the canon nor most fanfics generally have a use for Koizumi, beyond 'exposition machine who uses the big words neither Kyon nor Nagato can be bothered to use'. This is frequently compounded by the fact that beginning fic writers tend to fail at imitating Koizumi's style of technobabble/psychobabble, making it much more grating and obnoxious than it needs to be. And creating yet another reason to automatically dislike the character.

The thing I'm personally unsure of is the question of why Haruhi chose Koizumi the person to be in the Brigade, specifically, out of all the people she might have turned into espers. In Disappearance it's made painfully clear they have no chemistry as a couple, so I'd guess somehow that Haruhi was far more interested in the idea of Koizumi than in dealing with any such real person, whether in the capacity of a boyfriend or a simple Brigade member.

I'm not entirely sure that it was her decision to have Koizumi be the person in the Brigade. Certainly she did create the espers (at least according to Koizumi's story), but from that point forward it appears that they were basically left to their own devices, and that included the training and insertion of Koizumi at Kitago. If their connection to her is emotional only, there's no way for them to know that Koizumi is the specific person they'd need to send if that's even what Haruhi was thinking; the best they could do was select the best candidate to put near her and try to do whatever it is they plan to do (presumably keep her stable).

[Arakawa]

Additional IRC discussion leads me to ask the following question:

Out of the canon facts listed, I see 6 and 7 as being the only ones which place Koizumi in the 'total jerk' category. (But they do so very strongly.) If we combine them with his pattern of being Haruhi's 'yes man' even for her most ludicrous suggestions, I get an interpretation that Koizumi started out working to undermine Kyon's connection with Haruhi and the other Brigade members. For the former, Kyon absolutely needs to stand up to Haruhi when she has crossed a line, so Koizumi's motivation in holding him back in #6 is suspect even if the situation turns out tolerably well in the end. For the latter, Kyon needs to trust the Brigade members not to all do... the kind of thing that Koizumi is apparently doing... and casting aspersions on Mikuru (#7) is a probable attempt to undermine that.

In that case, is this undermining just petty revenge for having usurped Koizumi's status, or was Koizumi looking to get something out of it?

Could we add any salient canon facts on top of 6 and 7 that cement the picture of Koizumi starting out as uniformly negative? Or, if we are aiming (as an exercise) for some other interpretation, figure out some reason for them that seems to be not purely malicious?

[Halbarad]

Hmm. I guess I'll step up to the plate to try and defend poor Koizumi. Of course, I'm too lazy, and not eloquent enough to make a full blow analysis like yours, so these objections will likely fall by the wayside. Still, I think there are a few points of alternate interpretation I can add.

All input is welcome. =) I'll fully admit that I'm going to pick apart what I see, but that's because - as stated - I'd like to honestly see some logic that can take the analysis I've already got into account and find an alternate explanation for it.

First off:

1. Kyon doesn't like Koizumi, and generally finds him smug and somewhat condescending. (throughout most of the novels)

You mentioned the unreliable narrator thing, but there's an aspect of it you left out. Namely, that it could be Kyon's reactions to Koizumi that are exaggerated. Kyon acts pretty grumpy towards him, and I'd say more out of a sense of general annoyance and irritation than a belief of Koizumi's smugness/arrogance.

But, Kyon is kind of a grumpy person, and he lets that color his narrative. The way he grouses about Koizumi in general is exactly the same as he used to grouse about the brigade as a whole. (Until he had his super-inner-monologue in disappearance.

Actually, I did cover that. As I mentioned, there are two extremes - Kyon is either perfectly factual about Koizumi's attitude and he really is that massive a jerk, or Kyon is imprinting the whole attitude on Koizumi out of jealousy/insecurity over his own shortcomings. Neither extreme seems likely, and in his reactions with other people he doesn't seem to show that much insecurity about himself - so why then would he react so poorly to Koizumi in particular, if there's absolutely nothing on Koizumi's part that should be prompting it? We -can- take that route, but if that's the case then Kyon basically degenerates into a horrifically petty and insecure guy himself, and that doesn't seem to be what we see of him in general.

Not to mention, actions speak louder than words. Kyon may say he dislikes Koizumi, but:

Kyon spends more time hanging out with Koizumi than any other member of the brigade.

There's a sort of friendship there that's lacking between Kyon and the others. Kyon may go on and on about how perfectly lovely Asahina-san is, but he never really sits down and has any meaningful interaction with her, preferring just to sit back, drink some heavenly tea, and admire the view.

Yuki is Yuki, and most interactions with her are limited for obvious reasons, even if Kyon does try.

But with Koizumi, Kyon spends a ton of time playing board games, constantly challenging each other in battles of wit and strategy. (Which Koizumi apparently sucks ass at). They spend pages together in long winded philosophical discussions. Some of which Kyon is even an active participant in, rather than silently snaking. They play a game of catch in novel 10/11!

With the board games, who else is he going to play with? Haruhi certainly doesn't have the patience or desire for it, and neither does Yuki. Mikuru's focused on her mascot duties most of the time, and getting too friendly with her got him in big trouble in Melancholy - so that's out unless he really wants to piss off Haruhi again. What are his other options? Koizumi's been bringing in various board games, and his other alternative is homework - so sure, he can beat the esper, why not play games with him? It doesn't really indicate friendship as much as it does a lack of desire or ability to do anything else.

For their conversations, literally every one of them is initiated by Koizumi, not Kyon. Kyon usually reacts with undisguised irritation and/or dread when he does, too. That doesn't really say much about any real friendship between the two of them. He may participate, but again, that doesn't say much about them being friends or friendly towards one another - or even that Kyon enjoys the participation.

Building on those points, let's turn the chessboard around and look at these from Koizumi's point of view. Forgetting any motivations for getting close to Haruhi at the moment, what does Koizumi have to gain from the constant board-gaming, philosophy, and and any of the other interactions he has with Kyon?

You could say it's all part of some sinister plan to manipulate Kyon and gain his trust or something, but it's really kind of a stretch. Koizumi doesn't do much to engender trust from Kyon, but Kyon ends up trusting him most of the time anyway. (Kyon often says/thinks otherwise, but actions still speak louder than words). So, board-gaming as a sinister plan is more than a little circuitous and obtuse.

So, why bother with the boardgames in the first place? Well, the simplest explanation would just be that: It's something Koizumi enjoys doing. They manage to get an entire shelf full of different games by the end of the novels. Even though he keeps losing, Koizumi keeps bringing more games and playing Kyon time and time again. Esper or not, he's still a human being, with his own likes and dislikes.

There doesn't have to be any sinister plan; again, it doesn't have to be anything more complex than "what else is he going to do?"

Taking a reverse view as you do: Haruhi is dangerous to interact with voluntarily; his organization's goal is to keep her stable, after all, so if she's not showing any indications of being unstable, why risk things by disturbing her? The other girls don't seem to want to have much to do with him either, and about all he could accomplish with either of them is trying to get more information about what they're doing - but he was trained to deal with Haruhi, not do espionage work on any rival groups. If they were willing to work with him that might be a route that he'd take, but they clearly aren't, so why bother?

So that leaves some form of interaction with Kyon, or doing something on his own. As the nominal second-in-command it's going to look bad if he completely ignores the Brigade to work on other things (like homework), and lowering Haruhi's perception of him would be a Bad Thing - he's already not in the position he expected to be, and doesn't need to make it any worse. Board games with Kyon is a fairly safe alternative to simply waiting next to Haruhi's desk, and it has added benefits: making him look friendly and positive in comparison to the grumpy and sarcastic Kyon (which will hopefully gain him points with Haruhi, if she notices at all); and it builds rapport with Kyon - since he seems to be the most influential person with Haruhi, having him in a position to trust Koizumi is going to be essential. Both points are pretty minor, granted, but what else could he conceivably do that would gain him any more ground towards his ultimate objectives of keeping Haruhi stable?

So, looking from Koizumi's perspective again, what would the purpose of his penchant for long winded philosophical ramblings be for? Is he deliberately trying to confuse or mislead Kyon? Is he being arrogant, and trying to flaunt his intellectual superiority over Kyon's inability to understand it. Kyon often claims to be totally lost, but he's notoriously unreliable in regards to his own intelligence, and even then Kyon manages to find out the answer by the end.

So, my thought than, and it sort of comes through in the canon: The purpose of these discussion's isn't to tell Kyon about whatever X problem is. Almost every exposition dump from Koizumi reads as if he's trying to teach Kyon, by leading him to solve the problem himself. Give a man a fish, teach a man to fish, etc. He wants Kyon to be able to figure out all these things on his own, and guides him through the process, rather than just telling him outright. Kyon is obviously annoyed, but usually pulls through anyway.

Those were all the points I can make about Koizumi being a friend, in any case. I can't quite offer much to disprove your theory, just offer another way.

I'm... not sure how that actually comes across in the canon, really. Kyon's obviously irritated by the ramblings in every case, and as someone who's been trained on how to train people, your best bet is to find something that actually works for the person/people you're training and that keeps them engaged. Koizumi starting out with the pseudophilosophical ramblings would be okay -- since he doesn't exactly know how Kyon's going to deal with it -- but after it becomes clear that it's not a very good way of reaching Kyon, he should try to find a different way of getting the same information across without pissing Kyon off. The fact that he sticks with the same approach seems to indicate that he really doesn't care what Kyon thinks of him, just so long as he gets the message - so if he gets to rub Kyon's nose in his own inferiority, so much the better.

While I do think that some of the 'complete jerk' aspects of Koizumi have toned down considerably by the later novels, at that point the diatribes are more likely habit than anything else, and that's why they don't change there.

A few points to make on other things:

His alternate self admits to being jealous of the impact that Kyon was able to make on Haruhi within a day of meeting her. (The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi)

Consider, that if you use this as evidence for your theory about him being trained to be Haruhi's girlfriend, that Alt!Koizumi has a totally different background going into this. He transfers to a school for completely mundane reasons, and is probably approached by a stunningly beautiful girl with a slight spark in her eye because he's a mysterious transfer student. He's captivated by her, but that spark quickly fades as mediocrity asserts itself, and he keeps going on, knowing that his luck will soon run out.

Until the fantastically awesome John Smith shows up and brings a life into her he couldn't even begin to dream of doing himself. Who wouldn't be jealous?

Normal Koizumi lacks that perspective, however.

He does, however, express his jealousy of Kyon during Day of Sagittarius - and that's the non-Disappearance Koizumi. I don't rely on this point much because it's not a very solid one, granted, but given that the core personalities in Disappearance were so similar to the "normal" characters, it's hard not to at least give it some consideration.

He has directly cast aspersions on Mikuru and her motives. (The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi)

This is an undeniable black spot on the record of Itsuki Koizumi, but it still deserves some thought. Let's turn the chessboard around again, and ask: What does he have to gain from doing this? Does he hope to make Kyon suspicious of Mikuru?

That's kind of stupid, isn't it? Koizumi's a smart person, and he already knows Kyon pretty well. Telling him not to trust Mikuru doesn't make Kyon doubt Mikuru, it makes him doubt Koizumi. It's a pretty easily foreseeable outcome, especially with the overly sinister way he went about doing it. (Might be only the anime in which it came across that way, but...) So why would Koizumi bother with an action that mostly turns the suspicion back on himself?

Going back to the idea of Koizumi teaching Kyon and trying to get him find out the answer on his own, it mirrors exactly what Yuki said. You shouldn't take anything we say at face value, use your own judgement's carefully.

Again, as above, there are far better ways of doing this without making himself look like a prick - Yuki did exactly the same thing without the convoluted logic. This is a case for Occam's Razor for me; the simplest explanation is that he distrusts Mikuru and believes that she's putting on an act to manipulate Kyon, and he's upset enough himself (and sees a slight opportunity) to try to convince Kyon of his belief.

7. He has directly interfered between Kyon and Haruhi. (The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi)

One last point to make here, but if you disregard any of Koizumi's ulterior motives, it's still a totally normal action for him to take in that situation. If my friend was in a huge fight with his girlfriend and moved to hit her, I'd stop him, simple as that. Koizumi simply stopped Kyon from doing something he would really, really regret later.

Mikuru even does the same thing right after, although in a much more useless, pathetic, drunken way.

And that's difference of opinion. If I were in Koizumi's position there? I'd stand back and let Kyon slap Haruhi, since she clearly deserved it from the way she was acting. If he tried to take it any further than a slap I'd definitely intervene, but honestly? Given what she'd done and said, Haruhi had it coming to her.

(And before anyone rushes to claim that I'm condoning abuse here, that is totally not the case. -_- As I said, I'd move to intervene if Kyon tried to take it any further, but a physical blow like that sometimes gets the point across far more effectively than words can - and doesn't necessarily constitute abuse.)

----

Anyway, that's my take on a few things. (Or you know, devils advocate). This probably came off as more of a bunch of nonsensical ramblings (And was longer than I thought.) and for that I apologize. I also probably need to reread the novels or something, as my facts might be a bit messed up off the top of my head.

Brozumi 4 life.

And the counter-viewpoints are definitely appreciated. =) As stated I pretty much picked apart everything that seems flimsy to me, but that doesn't mean that the commentary is unwelcome.

[Arakawa]

Again, as above, there are far better ways of doing this without making himself look like a prick - Yuki did exactly the same thing without the convoluted logic. This is a case for Occam's Razor for me; the simplest explanation is that he distrusts Mikuru and believes that she's putting on an act to manipulate Kyon, and he's upset enough himself (and sees a slight opportunity) to try to convince Kyon of his belief.

Ah. It occurs to me that I may have misunderstood that point in your analysis. Then, it's not so much that Koizumi is undermining Kyon, but rather he has a certain very one-sided view of the situation, which, incidentally, also happens to prevent Koizumi from understanding the situation enough to have any control over it! (Ironic justice wins the day.)

His attempts to impose his views on Kyon / make sure Kyon's actions fit his views, are then the acts of a self-righteous jerk, but are not as directly malicious as I thought you were implying. He just sees himself (initially) as more intelligent than Kyon and thus entitled to "teach" him or direct his actions. And eventually he grows past that, as it becomes evident the best way to deal with Kyon is to leave him free to act on his own.

The problem is that, with 'growing past that', there's no real point story-wise to him growing past being a complete jerk. He still has a purely mechanical set of duties with respect to the Brigade: shut down closed spaces, and prevent ill-defined Organization factions that are barely even mentioned from doing bad things to Haruhi. He doesn't get in Kyon's way as much with ill-advised actions, sure, but his positive contribution doesn't increase.

(He may now be working off screen to convince the organization to keep them from trying to interfere with what Kyon's doing, but do we see that? No. So it doesn't affect the character dynamics at all, and it's not a certain thing.)

So, in the books he grows from an unprofessional (as evidenced by his behaviour) jerk, to someone who's less of a jerk and thus arguably more of a professional about his job, but that still doesn't give us any reason to care about him.

On that basis, it strikes me that any fic trying to make an interesting character out of Koizumi is going to have to pull stuff out of nowhere at some point just to have material to work with. I guess my reinterpretation above was an unintentional attempt to do just that by giving him my yandere complex. Oops.

(The same lack of canon material to work with is also true for Mikuru, except she doesn't have quite so many negative traits the writer would be forced to struggle with.)

[Halbarad]

Additional IRC discussion leads me to ask the following question:

Out of the canon facts listed, I see 6 and 7 as being the only ones which place Koizumi in the 'total jerk' category. (But they do so very strongly.) If we combine them with his pattern of being Haruhi's 'yes man' even for her most ludicrous suggestions, I get an interpretation that Koizumi started out working to undermine Kyon's connection with Haruhi and the other Brigade members.

That's definitely the way I see it, yes. Probably more the Kyon-Haruhi connection than anything in the early days of the Brigade, since if my theory about him being trained to be Haruhi's romantic interest is correct he'd want to get the usurper Kyon out of that position so he could step in and take it as he was meant to.

For the former, Kyon absolutely needs to stand up to Haruhi when she has crossed a line, so Koizumi's motivation in holding him back in #6 is suspect even if the situation turns out tolerably well in the end. For the latter, Kyon needs to trust the Brigade members not to all do... the kind of thing that Koizumi is apparently doing... and casting aspersions on Mikuru (#7) is a probable attempt to undermine that.

In that case, is this undermining just petty revenge for having usurped Koizumi's status, or was Koizumi looking to get something out of it?

My best guess here is a little of both. I think the main motivation is that Koizumi is mostly looking to drive a wedge between Kyon and the other Brigade members. If he can get Kyon to distrust Mikuru and Yuki and listen to him alone, he's got a much better shot at manipulating Haruhi (through Kyon) into doing whatever. If Kyon's still open to input from the other two, though, it blunts the effectiveness of any information - true or false - that he can feed Kyon.

There's also a fallback here; if he fails and Kyon overreacts to his accusations to defending Mikuru even more openly (and in front of Haruhi), there's always the possibility that Haruhi will cut both of them loose out of jealousy - and Koizumi can step in to fill the gap vacated by Kyon. Bit of a long shot on that one, but I can see him considering it.

Granted, all of this is pure supposition.

Could we add any salient canon facts on top of 6 and 7 that cement the picture of Koizumi starting out as uniformly negative? Or, if we are aiming (as an exercise) for some other interpretation, figure out some reason for them that seems to be not purely malicious?

Honestly, #5 is just as much in that column as #6 and 7 are. In coming up with this writeup I recalled the scene vaguely as something fairly minor, but in actually looking for the reference in the novels and rereading the scene Koizumi comes across as far more bitter and angry than I remembered.

"Indeed, I'm counting on you this time. Just trying to prepare for the SOS Brigade's end of year snow mountain field trip is enough to keep me busy. Besides, you could still mess around with Suzumiya-san to reduce stress. Unfortunately, I do not have such a luxury."

"Then who's the tomcat?"

Yet, the beautiful smile on Koizumi's face became twisted,

"Don't you think it's about time that I take off this harmless looking mask and change this image that I don't even know when I created it for myself? It is after all very tiring trying to talk courteously to a classmate all the time."

If you feel so tired, then stop it already. I completely didn't feel like controlling his expression.

"That won't do. My present image fits perfectly with how Suzumiya-san would imagine me to be. I am quite an expert in understanding her mental conditions, after all,"

Koizumi sighed in an exaggerated way,

"On just this basis alone, I feel very envious of Asahina-san. She doesn't even need to pretend, she only needs to be herself,"

"Didn't you once say Asahina-san could be making up this appearance of hers as well?"

"Oh, did you actually believe what I said? If I can win your trust, then my hard work may have produced some fruit after all."

Just as pretentious as ever. It's nearly a year already, and his flamboyant way of speech still hasn't changed a bit. Even Nagato's heart has gone through some changes, but you're still as fake as ever. Asahina-san doesn't need to change, it is best that she remains he same for now. This is because I've met the other Asahina-san, and know that it's a pre-determined fact that she would grow both physically and mentally.

"If I were to take on a different appearance..."

Koizumi began to wipe faster,

"Then it would not be a good omen. Keeping the status-quo is my duty. I'm sure you wouldn't want to see me look serious."

[Arakawa]

So, a somewhat canon-compliant Koizumi character arc would go something like:

1. Koizumi starts out as a self-righteous jerk convinced that He Knows Best with regards to Haruhi. Within the organization, he's jockeying for position to get to be the one to be her love interest and have the thrill of controlling her and someday leading her to accomplish unimaginably great things. Maybe one of the less negative espers tries to curb his enthusiasm, because Koizumi's attitude basically matches that of the organization, and it's a dangerous one to hold -- that of the chance to influence Haruhi's power as a potent drug, let's say.

2. Enter Kyon, who waltzes in and takes Koizumi's place without even meaning to. Kyon keeps being Kyon and treating Haruhi as just Haruhi, not the Azathoth of infinite potential and danger Koizumi sees her as. How dare he raise a hand to strike her! Didn't the first crisis in Melancholy teach him anything? Clearly he still has no appreciation how dangerous the forces he's dealing with are!

3. Eventually, Koizumi becomes somewhat humbled by how Kyon keeps being proven right and the organization's viewpoint keeps being proven wrong. (Maybe they keep giving him instructions on how to win over Haruhi, which lead nowhere while Kyon gains Haruhi's trust, confidence, and respect in spite of not even really making a calculated effort to do so.) Major crisis of confidence (which he hides). Say, in Snow Mountain Syndrome is one of the moments when he's facing the fact that he's becoming rapidly irrelevant to Haruhi and to the organization (both very worrying), and he throws himself at the aliens' puzzle with such energy to try to somehow feel important.

_{(The easiest way to encapsulate this character arc as a fic would, indeed, be to write a one-shot that jumps around in time a bit, but mostly focuses on Mountain Syndrome.)}

4. Koizumi's epiphany: his role from now on is going to have to be to sabotage and mislead the interventionist factions of the organization (much as the less negative esper(s) of choice try to persuade him at the beginning) and give Haruhi a chance to grow on her own. Koizumi himself lacks the personal qualities to control Haruhi, or to deserve to do so. Given these realizations, he is quite honest when he professes to Kyon that his loyalties are now with the Brigade, even if somewhat bitter inside that several years of his life have been wasted on a dream of hubris.

I'm curious to see if Hal can still see a gaping hole in my logic. (Beyond possibly having to invent a somewhat more interventionist stance for the organization than is in evidence during the novels.)

[Arakawa]

One other point I could see happening which is not informed by canon, which would take things into darkfic territory:

Spoiler: ShowHide

Koizumi's training could have consisted e.g. in the Organization compiling a list of schoolgirls who match Haruhi's personality profile, and then Koizumi transferring into one school after another, instructed to win them over and attempt to obtain psychological influence over them in the shortest amount of time possible. Which means that by the time he's transferred in, he may well have extensive experience both with organization politics, and with seducing someone (emotionally if not physically) and then abandoning them. One can imagine the depth of cynicism such an experience might produce.

This is more fodder for the 'Koizumi-as-a-potential-sociopath' cannon.

[Grahf]

Could we add any salient canon facts on top of 6 and 7 that cement the picture of Koizumi starting out as uniformly negative? Or, if we are aiming (as an exercise) for some other interpretation, figure out some reason for them that seems to be not purely malicious?

If I may take a stab at this:

Dealing with seven first I think that although his actions cannot be written off as altruistic given the circumstances that they are not entirely self-serving either. If he internalizes his reasoning as much as he externalizes it, then I would lay odds that he probably acted to an event that he estimated would have a disastrous outcome if left unchecked. It's not hard for him to hypothesize -- especially if he does have access to Haruhi's emotional state -- that the slap (or punch, or whatever) would have caused Haruhi to abandon the current reality and likely not take anyone with her. It's never established that that would be the end of that reality, but according to Melancholy it's extremely likely that it would be so.

There is a wildly divergent idea that I had regarding the same event, that being that if Koizumi is so emotionally in tune with Haruhi that he had no choice in that event but to interfere. Haruhi didn't seem aware that she was about to be tuned in by Kyon, but what if some subconscious part of her was aware, and forced Koizumi to act on that fact. The problem with this of course is that it paints Haruhi in an unintentionally horrible light with Espers and especially Koizumi almost being nothing more than her slaves. Likewise I don't have much in the way of proof to back this idea up, it's mostly just a random thought that crossed my mind.

As for #6, I'd say that it was mostly the way that Koizumi approached it, as well as the nature of what he seemingly is on the surface to Kyon (an annoying blow-hard). All three factions approached him, Koizumi against Mikuru, Mikuru against Koizumi, and Yuki with the more general warning that perhaps they're all untrustworthy, or that at the very least Kyon needs to come to his own conclusions given what he's experienced and what he knows.

When Koizumi approaches Kyon it comes across as dark and accusatory because Kyon already doesn't really like most of what Koizumi has to say in his 'philosophical ramblings'. His condemnation of Mikuru makes her following condemnation of him look reactionary; frankly who's to say that she wasn't planning on coming to Kyon and telling him that regardless. Likewise Kyon is sweet on Mikuru, and the way she phrases the attack (and I fully believe that it is an attack) on his credibly is that of a reluctant little girl who doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings but still wants Kyon to know the 'truth' of the matter. His attack seems to be on her character, which is something that immediately has Kyon doubting it, meanwhile her attack is more on his theories (which he himself doesn't admit or deny ascribing to) which lets Kyon have an easier time of accepting it.

This of course leads on a completely different tangent as to how ultimately trustworthy Mikuru is in either temporal variation. Certainly Kyon would ultimately agree with Koizumi regarding Mikuru (Big), because Kyon himself have become incredibly resentful of her manipulations. The question remains as to how much -- if any -- of those manipulations are already held by her smaller self.

Ultimately, tensions were high at that point, and the entire situation might have been sort of a "keep your enemies close" situation already. If I'm not mistaken I believe Mikuru is the only member of the Brigade that hasn't put her loyalties to it ahead of the ones to the faction she represents. Whether Koizumi's is believable or not, or whether Yuki will ultimately have a choice -- although her actions seem to speak the loudest, certainly -- it remains that everyone has an agenda, and everyone vies for the position closest to their target of interest. In this case that position just happens to be next to the person that she's already chosen to place stock in.

[Halbarad]

So, a somewhat canon-compliant Koizumi character arc would go something like:

1. Koizumi starts out as a self-righteous jerk convinced that He Knows Best with regards to Haruhi. Within the organization, he's jockeying for position to get to be the one to be her love interest and have the thrill of controlling her and someday leading her to accomplish unimaginably great things. Maybe one of the less negative espers tries to curb his enthusiasm, because Koizumi's attitude basically matches that of the organization, and it's a dangerous one to hold -- that of the chance to influence Haruhi's power as a potent drug, let's say.

Eh... mostly accurate, although given Koizumi's general attitude I tend to think he was likely hand-picked rather than having to compete. If he'd been in competition to take the role of Haruhi's love interest within the Organization he'd already have a competitive mindset about it, and I suspect he'd be a lot more active in trying to displace Kyon because of it. Instead, he seems more affronted and jealous than anything else. But aside from that (admittedly minor) quibble, sure.

2. Enter Kyon, who waltzes in and takes Koizumi's place without even meaning to. Kyon keeps being Kyon and treating Haruhi as just Haruhi, not the Azathoth of infinite potential and danger Koizumi sees her as. How dare he raise a hand to strike her! Didn't the first crisis in Melancholy teach him anything? Clearly he still has no appreciation how dangerous the forces he's dealing with are!

Pretty much spot on, yes. Could swing between horror at how much of a risk he's taking/outrage at him daring to strike a goddess depending on how you want to play his view of Haruhi.

3. Eventually, Koizumi becomes somewhat humbled by how Kyon keeps being proven right and the organization's viewpoint keeps being proven wrong. (Maybe they keep giving him instructions on how to win over Haruhi, which lead nowhere while Kyon gains Haruhi's trust, confidence, and respect in spite of not even really making a focused effort to do so.) Major crisis of confidence (which he hides). Say, in Snow Mountain Syndrome is one of the moments when he's facing the fact that he's becoming rapidly irrelevant to Haruhi and to the organization (both very worrying), and he throws himself at the aliens' puzzle with such energy to try to somehow feel important.

_{(The easiest way to encapsulate this character arc as a fic would, indeed, be to write a one-shot that jumps around in time a bit, but mostly focuses on Mountain Syndrome.)}

Well, here's where we diverge a bit. Assume Koizumi's telling the truth about the Organization's motives; their goal is to keep Haruhi stable and thereby keep the world intact. I can't see him losing his relevance inside his organization as a result of the way canon runs, although there definitely is the worry about him becoming less relevant to Haruhi as Kyon takes up more of her thoughts. As far as the Organization goes, though, what alternatives do they have to using Koizumi as the man on the inside? About all they could reasonably do would be to send someone that's going to be more likely to buddy up with Kyon and have more influence with him, but how do they get such a person in without it looking suspicious to Haruhi and Kyon?

You can pitch the Organization as the bad guys fairly easily, though, and still take this road. Instead of stability, the Organization is really out to harness Haruhi's powers for their own (unknown) ends. Perhaps Koizumi's been lied to about this all along and told Kyon what he did in good faith, but as his influence with Haruhi grows less and less the Organization starts getting more desperate - and in their flailing he uncovers what they're really after; after all, why should they be getting so desperate to get him closer to Haruhi when she actually is becoming more stable, even if not in the way they expected her to?

If you wanted a good event to spur Koizumi towards positive character growth, this is about the best thing I could suggest for it.

4. Koizumi's epiphany: his role from now on is going to have to be to sabotage and mislead the interventionist factions of the organization (much as the less negative esper(s) of choice try to persuade him at the beginning) and give Haruhi a chance to grow on her own. Koizumi himself lacks the personal qualities to control Haruhi, or to deserve to do so. Given these realizations, he is quite honest when he professes to Kyon that his loyalties are now with the Brigade, even if somewhat bitter inside that several years of his life have been wasted on a dream of hubris.

Actually, if you take the above suggestion, there are a lot of ways to go with this.

1. Koizumi gets fed up with his Organization and tries to get out, possibly collapse it in the process. This gives some opportunity for spy-like action, bonding opportunities between Koizumi and all of the other Brigade members, and some real chances to redeem himself to the others given the crap he'd pulled prior to that. Could even involve a desperate masquerade break if you want to ratchet the tension up that high.

2. Koizumi doesn't try to get out of the Organization, but turns into what amounts to a double agent, working from the inside to keep the Organization ineffective or hamper their plans. This is a more passive route and would likely just involve patching things up with Kyon, but you could also pull Tachibana's group in as well and have him playing both secret groups against each other. Taking this route could lead to esper x esper shipping, too, or other hijinks with the anti-SOS Brigade.

3. Koizumi stays in and doesn't subvert, he literally attempts to take over. This would play up his connections with known members of the Organization more (either as allies or enemies), and could lead to tighter bonds with the Brigade members if he's willing to explain what's going on and ask for their help. Somewhat similar to option 1, except instead of simply escaping he wants to turn the tables and do something dramatically positive - a more dramatic form of redemption for his previous actions.

Pretty much any of these will almost certainly lead to some reconciliation with Kyon (if not everyone else), and I think if he can let go of his bitterness and anger he'll follow a K:BDH-ish path - where the mask he'd been wearing becomes the person he really is, and he no longer needs the false persona to cover up his real feelings.

[Halbarad]

There is a wildly divergent idea that I had regarding the same event, that being that if Koizumi is so emotionally in tune with Haruhi that he had no choice in that event but to interfere. Haruhi didn't seem aware that she was about to be tuned in by Kyon, but what if some subconscious part of her was aware, and forced Koizumi to act on that fact. The problem with this of course is that it paints Haruhi in an unintentionally horrible light with Espers and especially Koizumi almost being nothing more than her slaves. Likewise I don't have much in the way of proof to back this idea up, it's mostly just a random thought that crossed my mind.

Ouch, have some Haruhi-as-Complete-Monster territory. Don't see this well supported by canon, but it's plausible enough as a seed idea.

As for #6, I'd say that it was mostly the way that Koizumi approached it, as well as the nature of what he seemingly is on the surface to Kyon (an annoying blow-hard). All three factions approached him, Koizumi against Mikuru, Mikuru against Koizumi, and Yuki with the more general warning that perhaps they're all untrustworthy, or that at the very least Kyon needs to come to his own conclusions given what he's experienced and what he knows.

When Koizumi approaches Kyon it comes across as dark and accusatory because Kyon already doesn't really like most of what Koizumi has to say in his 'philosophical ramblings'. His condemnation of Mikuru makes her following condemnation of him look reactionary; frankly who's to say that she wasn't planning on coming to Kyon and telling him that regardless. Likewise Kyon is sweet on Mikuru, and the way she phrases the attack (and I fully believe that it is an attack) on his credibly is that of a reluctant little girl who doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings but still wants Kyon to know the 'truth' of the matter. His attack seems to be on her character, which is something that immediately has Kyon doubting it, meanwhile her attack is more on his theories (which he himself doesn't admit or deny ascribing to) which lets Kyon have an easier time of accepting it.

Mikuru's attack is definitely more tailored to Kyon, yes. She's taking attitudes and opinions that Kyon already has (Koizumi as a blow-hard, having a bunch of BS philosophical theories) and using them to reinforce her point, where Koizumi basically doesn't seem to give a damn about what Kyon actually thinks and tries brute force to get his point across (more or less).

This of course leads on a completely different tangent as to how ultimately trustworthy Mikuru is in either temporal variation. Certainly Kyon would ultimately agree with Koizumi regarding Mikuru (Big), because Kyon himself have become incredibly resentful of her manipulations. The question remains as to how much -- if any -- of those manipulations are already held by her smaller self.

Not to derail too much here, but I can't honestly see Mikuru(small) as having much - if any - knowledge of what her faction's agenda is. Mikuru(big) is absolutely in it up to her ears, but her younger self's reactions seem too genuine - and consistent - for her to be in on most of it. Koizumi does have knowledge of his agenda, and his facade shows cracks on several occasions; I think Mikuru's kept in the dark so she literally can't have any gaps in her act, because it isn't actually an act.

Now, how dark or deep Mikuru(big)'s objectives are? Wide open for speculation, but a topic for another thread/time.